The FIA is currently investigating fuel system issues encountered by World Rally Championship Rally1 teams at the Acropolis Rally Greece, leading to Toyota and M-Sport-Ford retiring cars from the competition.
Toyota made the decision to retire Sami Pajari during the road section after stage five on Friday due to a fuel system problem with his GR Yaris, where he was fighting for a podium position.
Pajari was able to rejoin the rally on Sunday after missing Saturday’s stages, as Toyota could not fix the issue during service.
M-Sport faced a similar fuel system problem with Martins Sesks’ Puma on Friday, which led to the car’s retirement before stage seven, although they managed to replace the tank before Saturday’s stages.
The fuel system issues, believed to be exacerbated by extreme heat in Greece, have affected several Rally1 cars, while Rally2 cars seemed to avoid such problems.
Since switching to a new sustainable fuel supplier after P1 Racing Fuels went bankrupt, the issues at the Acropolis Rally mark the fourth event under the new arrangement with TotalEnergies as the WRC’s fuel supplier since Rally Islas Canarias in April.
